A Greek tragedy of our time? Institutional and financial dimension of Health Promotion for Older People in Greece

Abstract

Despite the numerous legislative documents and public health institutions in Greece, the country lacks a comprehensive and robust long-term policy perspective in the public health area. The traditionally higher priority attached to curative care than to public health actions, is the major reason of the shortcomings. This country report draws upon several national reports focused on the Greek health system, and other country-specific sources in order to outline the major institutional and financing challenges for health promotion in Greece, and specifically health promotion for older adults. The paper is based on the method of narrative literature review. The findings show that health promotion actions for elderly persons do take place in Greece but mainly in urban areas and/or within the framework of EU-funded projects. Government efforts are required to stimulate coordinated public health interventions at the local level focusing on the positive effects of health promotion. The health promotion programs that are successfully implemented, should receive the necessary government support to assure their long-term sustainability.

Good practices in health promotion for older people – Significance for evidence in health policy

“…Analysis conducted under the ProHealth 65+ project was an important source of information about good practices for older people from different European countries (Arsenijevic & Groot, 2017; Falvo et al., 2017; Golinowska, Huter, et al., 2017; Pavlova, Atanasova, et al, 2017; Pavlova, Murauskiene, et al, 2017; Pavlova, Skalkidis, Groot, Sowa, & Golinowska 2017; Poscia et al., 2017; Sitko et al., 2016; Sowa & Szetela, 2017; Sowada et al.&, 2017; Tambor et al., 2017). To confirm an adequate selection of programmes and interventions recognised as good practices, public health experts from the countries selected for analysis (Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Greece and Hungary) were contacted and posed direct questions in order to collect the overall country‐specific information about good practices in health promotion for older people.…”

The most promising social care practices for the elderly who are dependent and/or at risk of social exclusion in the Mediterranean basin: an integrative literature review

“…Among the main objectives of the different initiatives, one of the most promising focused on quality of life and prevention. This was achieved through improvements to established integrated care initiatives (at the patient's residence, by training professionals, and by raising public care awareness) and advances in person-centred care for persons with multi-morbidity, such as in the case of Fundación Matia (15) (23), the Lebanese Center for Palliative Care-Balsam (24), Open Care Centers for older people KAPI (25), and Sekem Medical Center (26).…”